The Capricorn Africa Society: A study of liberal politics in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia, 1949-1972.
Date
1991
Authors
Phiri, Bizeck Jube.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Dalhousie University
Abstract
Description
The study examines multi-racial liberalism in Central Africa through the examination of the Capricorn Africa Society, a multi-racial organization founded in Southern Rhodesia in 1949. The study is situated in the context of nationalist fervour in Northern Rhodesia. Because Capricorn ideas generated debate about liberal democracy and political pluralism, the study also examines the first eight years of Zambia's independence in order to provide an overview of the failure of liberal democracy, which is assessed in relation to the nature of the colonial experience and the way the Northern Rhodesian colonial state functioned.
This is not a thesis on decolonization per se. It is about the contribution of liberal activism to that process. The main interest is the conception of liberalism as understood in the contemporary British Central African, and the crucial role it played in generating ideas about the future of liberal democracy.
This revisionist-post-nationalist interpretation of both Capricorn and liberal activism in Northern Rhodesia concludes that although liberalism had faded by 1964, Capricorn conceptions about democratic principles and the need for good government continued to inform political processes. The thesis sees multi-racialism as an attempt to foster new forms of civil society which were capable of coping with demands of the colonial and post colonial politics. The study also concludes that the failure of liberal democracy after 1964 reflects the legacy of colonial rule, and not necessarily a problem of post-independence leadership.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1991.
This is not a thesis on decolonization per se. It is about the contribution of liberal activism to that process. The main interest is the conception of liberalism as understood in the contemporary British Central African, and the crucial role it played in generating ideas about the future of liberal democracy.
This revisionist-post-nationalist interpretation of both Capricorn and liberal activism in Northern Rhodesia concludes that although liberalism had faded by 1964, Capricorn conceptions about democratic principles and the need for good government continued to inform political processes. The thesis sees multi-racialism as an attempt to foster new forms of civil society which were capable of coping with demands of the colonial and post colonial politics. The study also concludes that the failure of liberal democracy after 1964 reflects the legacy of colonial rule, and not necessarily a problem of post-independence leadership.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1991.
Keywords
History, African., Political Science, General., Sociology, Social Structure and Development.